Bison: [to his architect] The temple above us was the wonder of the ancient world. Bisonopolis shall be the wonder of my world. But I think the food court should be larger. All the big franchises will want in.

Oh, there's also a prequel graphic novel. Ancient History. Has a really awesome short comic with Satan.

Bison: [to his architect] The temple above us was the wonder of the ancient world. Bisonopolis shall be the wonder of my world. But I think the food court should be larger. All the big franchises will want in.

I'm personally shocked and appalled that no one has thrown out any casting ideas yet.

But check out this cool info from Mark Steven Johnson...

[quote]

Did this sort of prep you for doing THE PREACHER because that's the whole heaven and hell thing, right?

Well, THE PREACHER is something that I've always wanted to do. It is the greatest, but it is so difficult, and I love it more than anyone does. I remember reading a script a while ago that was going to go to film and I was like, 'How do you make a two hour movie of THE PREACHER? You can't do it.' So when I went into HBO I said very simply, 'Here is the comic. There are seventy something issues here, seventy-five issues plus the four issues of killers.' I said, 'Every issue is an hour.' It's a six year show and HBO, God bless them, went, 'Cool.'

So are you staying really loyal to the whole storyline?

Not loyal. Exact. So it's like we had our first meeting the other day. I keep waiting for them to go, 'We're not doing this!'â€¦ But they were like, 'God bless.' I was like, 'F*cking HBO has balls.' They were like, 'Bring it. Do it.' It's just like DAREDEVIL, it's just like GHOST RIDER, no one comes to your door and rings the doorbell and goes, 'Hey, you wanna do these movies?' I'm the last guy, but I'm the guy who gets it done because I care and I do it. So people have tried to make DAREDEVIL and they've tried to make GHOST RIDER and it hasn't happened, but I got them made.

DAREDEVIL was with mixed results and GHOST RIDER, I hope much better and PREACHER, I hope to be exact. In fact, today I emailed Kevin Smith and I said, 'Dude, I just got Preacher. You know you love it. If it goes would you please direct an episode?' I want to go to Kevin. I want to go to Robert Rodriguez and do guest directors. I think that would be really cool. I want it to be a prestige thing. 'You love Preacher? Come do a show.' Usually it's a guest actor. I want it to be a guest director. I want to keep the spirit of it, keep the vibe of it, but also know that there'll be a different imprint every time when it comes to directing the show. My job is to help write the shows. I'm working with Garth [Ennis] everyday. He's a big part of it to make sure that it's exactly what we want and then let the director put his imprint on it, but it's got to be a book.

How involved would Garth be if the series takes off?

If he wants to be, absolutely; my first meeting was yesterday, and Garth was in New York, but he was on the speaker phone. Like all meetings, there were twenty people there and one person on the speaker phone and everyone was going like this to the speaker phone [bending down into the â€œspeaker phoneâ€

[quote="Nachokoolaid"]I'm personally shocked and appalled that no one has thrown out any casting ideas yet.

But check out this cool info from Mark Steven Johnson...

[quote]

Did this sort of prep you for doing THE PREACHER because that's the whole heaven and hell thing, right?

Well, THE PREACHER is something that I've always wanted to do. It is the greatest, but it is so difficult, and I love it more than anyone does. I remember reading a script a while ago that was going to go to film and I was like, 'How do you make a two hour movie of THE PREACHER? You can't do it.' So when I went into HBO I said very simply, 'Here is the comic. There are seventy something issues here, seventy-five issues plus the four issues of killers.' I said, 'Every issue is an hour.' It's a six year show and HBO, God bless them, went, 'Cool.'

So are you staying really loyal to the whole storyline?

Not loyal. Exact. So it's like we had our first meeting the other day. I keep waiting for them to go, 'We're not doing this!'â€¦ But they were like, 'God bless.' I was like, 'F*cking HBO has balls.' They were like, 'Bring it. Do it.' It's just like DAREDEVIL, it's just like GHOST RIDER, no one comes to your door and rings the doorbell and goes, 'Hey, you wanna do these movies?' I'm the last guy, but I'm the guy who gets it done because I care and I do it. So people have tried to make DAREDEVIL and they've tried to make GHOST RIDER and it hasn't happened, but I got them made.

DAREDEVIL was with mixed results and GHOST RIDER, I hope much better and PREACHER, I hope to be exact. In fact, today I emailed Kevin Smith and I said, 'Dude, I just got Preacher. You know you love it. If it goes would you please direct an episode?' I want to go to Kevin. I want to go to Robert Rodriguez and do guest directors. I think that would be really cool. I want it to be a prestige thing. 'You love Preacher? Come do a show.' Usually it's a guest actor. I want it to be a guest director. I want to keep the spirit of it, keep the vibe of it, but also know that there'll be a different imprint every time when it comes to directing the show. My job is to help write the shows. I'm working with Garth [Ennis] everyday. He's a big part of it to make sure that it's exactly what we want and then let the director put his imprint on it, but it's got to be a book.

How involved would Garth be if the series takes off?

If he wants to be, absolutely; my first meeting was yesterday, and Garth was in New York, but he was on the speaker phone. Like all meetings, there were twenty people there and one person on the speaker phone and everyone was going like this to the speaker phone [bending down into the â€œspeaker phoneâ€

is it just me or does MSJ say he has always loved everything he makes a movie of,and loves it more than anyone else? i read about how DD was his favorite when he was making that movie, then it was Ghost Rider, now it is Preacher. i appreciate enthusiasm but when i see the guy saying the same things over and over it kind of diminishes my perception of just how genuine it is.

I think Cassidy needs to be much younger. Remember, he was like 16 when he was bitten. Sure, the hard drugs and hard livin will make him look aged, but not Robert Carlyle old.

Matt McConaughey is too old already, if you ask me, to be Jesse.

And Gary Oldman was my first choice for Starr, but after some thought, I think I'd enjoy Neeson more there.

It would be cool to see Bob Glover and Freddy Allen be played by the two guys from Pirates of the Caribbean. (You KNOW which two- the one that gets the fork stuck in his wooden eye and the "parley" guy). Just think of the physical resemblance.

I think Cassidy needs to be much younger. Remember, he was like 16 when he was bitten. Sure, the hard drugs and hard livin will make him look aged, but not Robert Carlyle old.

Matt McConaughey is too old already, if you ask me, to be Jesse.

And Gary Oldman was my first choice for Starr, but after some thought, I think I'd enjoy Neeson more there.

It's interesting that you think I'm casting these characters too old, b/c I think you're casting some of them waaaaaay too young.

Sean Flanery is only 4 yrs younger than Carlyle. Cooper is only 6 years younger than Emery. I think with Carlyle, you're equating ugly with old. Cassidy is not a pretty man. He's a weak willed, scrawny, man-child who despite all this, wins the world over with a shit-eating smile. That's Carlyle.

Root is an ignorant racist who rules by fear b/c he's scared of the world. Plus, the character is basically one-dimensional and rather unimportant. This needs a good character actor and since Emery basically created this character, I don't see why he shouldn't play it. Cooper would be wasted on such an unimportant, one-note character.

Elijah as Arseface. If MSJ shoots the mini-series, we'll need a face for the character. But I mainly chose him b/c of his skill as an actor.
You're going to need a very talented actor to express Arseface's teenage angst, ignorance, naivity, and fear w/o the aid of his face or words. Elijah can do that. So this choice was strictly about talent over facial recognition.

In regards to Jesse, McConaughey is only 37. Jesse Custer is at least 30. I mean look at this guy.

Plus, Jesse is a southerner...a real, honest-to-goodness, "even if the south don't rise again, the north still fuckin' sucks" southerner. It's one of the character's key traits and ties directly into the story's western roots. You need a real southerner to pull that off. You need Matthew McConaughey.

You say that Jesse is 30, but I think he's actually in his early 20s. Also, I'm keeping in mind that whoever they cast will be about six years (at least) older when the series finishes. (Think 90210 or saved by the bell. They weren't exactly looking like high school kids at the end). I don't want Tulip looking like she's going through menopause at the end of the show's run.

Maybe it's becuase I think Ledger would do well as Jesse, but what about Michelle Williams as Tulip? I think she'd be pretty nice. She's a great actress and she's done some nudity.

Plus, she and Ledger have said that they'd like to work together more and this would give them a chance.

Nachokoolaid wrote:You say that Jesse is 30, but I think he's actually in his early 20s. Also, I'm keeping in mind that whoever they cast will be about six years (at least) older when the series finishes. (Think 90210 or saved by the bell. They weren't exactly looking like high school kids at the end).

I can't believe I've actually just put this much effort into proving my point about a comic character's age BUT.....here we go.

- Jesse's parents had him almost 9 months exactly after they met.
- Jesse's parents lived together for 4 yrs before being taken back to Angelville.
- Jesse first saw John Wayne in True Grit, which came out in 1969.
- John Wayne started appearing to Jesse a year after his father was killed, but John Wayne himself didn't die until (i dont know how many) years later in 1979.
- Preacher #1 was released in 1995.

If we assume Preacher took place at the same time it was released and Jesse was born the year True Grit was released, he would be 26. Since Jesse was 4 before being taken to Angelville and the art shows him seeing True Grit as at least 2, we can assume that Jesse is somewhere between 28-30 yrs old. And since Tulip is a few years older than Jesse, that puts her at 30-32 yrs old.

Now...all that aside. I mainly just don't think Ledger would be good for the role. He's a good actor, no doubt. But his American, particularly his western, accent sucks ass. And he's too soft to play Jesse...way too soft. Same goes for Michelle Williams...way too soft.

I have no problem with the actors aging over the course of the show. Their quest is so rough, so heavy, they should look older and beaten by the end of it. None of the characters make it to the end w/o taking numerous, life-threatening ass-kickings.

Remember, while this is based off a comic, it's being made into an adult drama on HBO. Which means not just cussing, tits, and blood...but like, really for adults. They won't cast the characters as pretty 20-somethings.

Melee Stormbringer wrote:as long as they don't screw it up like Helllblazer. Constantine was okay, but just not what i was hoping for. And for the love of God....NO KEANU REEVES!!!!!

Seconded. Although, I would really enjoy him being the fallen angel that birthed Genesis. Imagine Reeves delivering that monologue about the passion between them while Jesse's like, "I got it. You fucked. Move on."

I'm giddy too, actually. My poor GF is so tired of hearing me talk about it. I haven't read the comics in years, and I'm frustrated that we won't see this another 2 years probably. But I was in the comic store this evening and I saw the Preacher trades...and well, it just made me more giddy. I want this here now!!!

Yeah, this is almost like mine and Ginger's personal wank thread. It seems like we're the only too excited about this. Although it's good to have Lyra in our corner, so the wanking will feel less... homosexual.

Honestly, this is worth owning HBO, alone.

I hope they do the guest director thing too. I'd like to see a Rodriguez, del Toro, Tarantino, Nolan, etc. directed episode.

So it looks like HBO is courting some HUGE names to direct the Preacher series. Check it out (courtest of CHUD...I know, I feel dirty too).

Unfortunately, the filmmakers who've been attached to the property over the years (e.g. Rachel Talalay and Howard Deutch) have been some of the very worst in the history of medium.

Deutch was the first director of choice for HBO and Mark Steven Johnson, who will executive produce the entire series and write the pilot. That's bad news until you consider that the Daredevil and Ghost Rider auteur has stated over and over that he will strive for a Zack Snyder-ian faithfulness with his adaptation. This means the success of the series will most likely be contingent on casting and directing. Though there's been no movement on the former, the search for the latter has heated up over the last week: first, we heard about Robert Rodriguez being courted. Some expressed doubt over this, but a friend of mine who's in position to know these things confirmed the story. What's more, he dropped this tidbit: they're looking for a big name director to make a splash with the pilot, after which they'll rotate other talented directors into the mix. And wait 'til you get a load of some of the names they're chasing.

When I heard Brian De Palma was in the running, I quit worrying about Mark Steven Johnson altogether. When I heard David Cronenberg was also in the running, I wondered if I was being jerked around. But it makes sense: Benderspink, which is producing Preacher, just worked with Cronenberg a few years ago on A History of Violence. That film was a critical and commercial success for both parties. Other directors being circled include Danny Boyle, Alex Proyas, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and, as previously mentioned, [Robert] Rodriguez.

It's important to note that, while HBO is very serious about Preacher all of a sudden, the project is still in the discussion stage. That said, I can tell you for a fact that if there is a groundswell of interest online, the long shot odds of a De Palma or a Cronenberg directing the pilot of Preacher will improve dramatically. If you want a quality Preacher, now's the time to speak up. HBO is paying attention.

De Palma?!?! Cronenberg?!?!?!? BOYLE?!??!?!?! Please, please, please make this happen.

Leckomaniac wrote:So it looks like HBO is courting some HUGE names to direct the Preacher series. Check it out (courtest of CHUD...I know, I feel dirty too).

Unfortunately, the filmmakers who've been attached to the property over the years (e.g. Rachel Talalay and Howard Deutch) have been some of the very worst in the history of medium.

Deutch was the first director of choice for HBO and Mark Steven Johnson, who will executive produce the entire series and write the pilot. That's bad news until you consider that the Daredevil and Ghost Rider auteur has stated over and over that he will strive for a Zack Snyder-ian faithfulness with his adaptation. This means the success of the series will most likely be contingent on casting and directing. Though there's been no movement on the former, the search for the latter has heated up over the last week: first, we heard about Robert Rodriguez being courted. Some expressed doubt over this, but a friend of mine who's in position to know these things confirmed the story. What's more, he dropped this tidbit: they're looking for a big name director to make a splash with the pilot, after which they'll rotate other talented directors into the mix. And wait 'til you get a load of some of the names they're chasing.

When I heard Brian De Palma was in the running, I quit worrying about Mark Steven Johnson altogether. When I heard David Cronenberg was also in the running, I wondered if I was being jerked around. But it makes sense: Benderspink, which is producing Preacher, just worked with Cronenberg a few years ago on A History of Violence. That film was a critical and commercial success for both parties. Other directors being circled include Danny Boyle, Alex Proyas, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and, as previously mentioned, [Robert] Rodriguez.

It's important to note that, while HBO is very serious about Preacher all of a sudden, the project is still in the discussion stage. That said, I can tell you for a fact that if there is a groundswell of interest online, the long shot odds of a De Palma or a Cronenberg directing the pilot of Preacher will improve dramatically. If you want a quality Preacher, now's the time to speak up. HBO is paying attention.

De Palma?!?! Cronenberg?!?!?!? BOYLE?!??!?!?! Please, please, please make this happen.